Choral

Holy, Holy, Holy.
Lord God of hosts.
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.

“Sanctus” is part of an entire mass setting titled Recursive Mass. This movement’s meditative opening pairs a chanted ostinato with the main theme of the Sanctus, treated using isorythmic variation. Each vocal part has a different rate at which it states the theme. This creates an amoeba-like sound that blossoms into a more clear statement. After the opening, this theme fluctuates like the wings of the heavenly beings on whose words the text is based.

The next section receives contrasting music as the music launches into octave leaps. This theme is then set in imitation in Chorus I while the Basses, Tenors, and Altos of Chorus II sing a melodic line comprised of half notes. By the end of this section, after paired imitation and layers of counterpoint, the voices align to state the text one final time in near homophony.

This piece takes a spiritual journey from outward praise to quiet and internal pondering, returning to celebration and praises that have been influenced and carry with them the meditative, exuberant, and quietly reflective sections that have come before. Thus, the final section consists of all previously heard material in layer upon layer.